My Awakening: The Secret Behind How I Grew My Business by 815%

Stephen Distante is CEO of Vanderbilt Financial Group, the Sustainable Broker-Dealer & RIA, and President of EO New York.

People ask me how I experienced so much growth in my business over such a short time given all the things I am involved with. The answer in a word is passion. Since I have aligned my passion with my business, I no longer work. I evangelize, I share, I align myself with people who have similar values – and the business growth takes care of itself. Since I figured out the formula my business escalated dramatically and in this blog I’ll share it with you.

How Most People Trying to Grow a Business Are Doing It

As the leader of EO New York, I talk to many entrepreneurs. There are a few different models of business growth that I have seen over the years. The first two are very typical and the last one is rare.

1) Build a business where you do what you do, make money eventually sell either when you can get top dollar, have a personal crisis, or can no longer stomach the thought of being in this business and want to run away every time you think of going to the office!

2) Grow real fast, get acquired and make a bundle of money, repeat, and get yourself to a place where you can build your “real” business (the one you’ve always dreamt of).For example, Elon Musk and Tesla/Space X/ The Boring Company/Solar City.

3) Build a business, become profitable and ask yourself this question, “What is my higher purpose, how can I positively impact the world and how can I do this with my business? If I am able to do this inside of my business, how can I incubate my passion project and make it become something that allow me to have joy in my day to day?”

Figure this out, and then, BAMMO! Like a match to gasoline, things go aflame! Amazing things begin to happen and suddenly you have a business worth building, one that is aligned with your values, passion and provides you with inspiration on a regular basis!

That is what happened to me and here is my story.

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Start With Congruence

It all started with a documentary, Revenge of the Electric Car, a film chronicling the evolution and history of electric cars and the story of Elon Musk and his evolution with fledging startup, Tesla. What I learned in that documentary is that as social entrepreneurs, we never feel more alive, then when we are creating something bigger than ourselves, something that could solve one or some of the world’s problems and create a solution which is worth following.

The companies who become mega giants aren’t the ones who just gobble up all their competitors, anyone in a related vertical, or every company smaller than them. It’s not about who screams the loudest or the longest. If that were true, then the companies with the deepest pockets would grow the most, and that’s not always the case.

Those who know me say that I’m not the typical financial firm CEO. Most financial companies make their investments on the metrics only without taking society into account. This has become problematic in many ways.

I always knew I felt differently. I didn’t want to run a company that invested blindly in ignorance of the problems in the world that need to be solved. There are people out there dying from opioid addiction from drugs that the big pharma companies are propagating. Were my company’s investments supporting this? Gun violence, the byproduct of investment in weapons manufacturing companies, is piercing the fabric of our society ubiquitously. And there are a million other ways

I rebranded my broker deal/RIA firm, Vanderbilt Financial, to embrace impact investing, or using the flow of capital to investments that benefit society and the environment. To this day we are known as the industry’s only sustainable broker dealer and RIA firm.

This is how I achieved congruence in my business. Using my businesses to improve the environmental and social good of the world isn’t a hat I put on when I go to work; it’s my life and my beliefs, and at the core of what I aim to do with my life.

Once I decided to get into full alignment, sustainability became a way of life not just a business idea. Entrepreneurs all over the world began to see me as an inspiration for the very idea of using your business to achieve what you are passionate about.

I became a role model for other entrepreneurs who wanted to pursue their passion. For example, I was named the leader of EO New York and appointed as the EO Global UN Ambassador. In this capacity I help other entrepreneurs do positive things for the world by implementing the UN’s SDGs, or Sustainable Development Goals, in their businesses as well.

In 2017 we had our best year ever and the business growth was unprecedented.

The Origin of Congruence is Passion

The one takeaway that I would tell any entrepreneur is to look at what you are passionate about and then align that passion with your business. Once you do that, you’ll find that growth happens naturally. If you look at the very successful brands, they all originated from passion not from the promise of material reward.

Look at the history of Burton Snowboards for example. Jake Burton was passionate about skiing but his career ended due to a serious injury. He made his first snowboard in his garage by hand because he wasn’t able to afford construction tools. It wasn’t about money, it was about something that captivated him. Over time his company had its ups and downs but his genuine enthusiasm always led him to persevere (Burton, n.d.).

Creating a Congruent Brand

Being congruent yourself isn’t enough, though. Entrepreneurs have to find a way to express their passion to the world through a recognizable concept, one that represents the business values and beliefs: the congruent brand. While it may sound simply it’s not an easy thing to do. To illustrate an example of a congruent brand, let me tell you a little bit about why I love Tesla cars.

I collect cars. I get bored easily.

But Tesla has somehow managed to captivate me. If you were to do a Google search, you’d see that I am considered Tesla’s #1 and/or Biggest Fan. I own Tesla cars and everything from their functionality to the way they provide technology updates is in total alignment with their mission to be the leader in electric cars. It’s a totally congruent brand.

The point of branding is to create a cultural identity, depicted visually and in words, to inspire others who feel the same to become a part of us. We can seek them out actively, but the best way to be found is to clearly define your mission and values as a company, and make it obvious what the benefits are for people joining you.

At Vanderbilt, we’ve done this well through video testimonials from our impact investing advisors as well as press releases, blogs, and speaking engagements on impact investing topics. To this end, we are constantly educating and nourishing our advisor teams’ passion for impact investing. We held a conference last fall in which we had some of the industry’s top practice advisors educate our advisor teams about how to maximize sales in the year ahead. On a monthly basis, we hold informational sessions on everything from cannabis investing to how advisors can manage their personal LinkedIn pages. We offer so much that it makes it clear that there is no other place where they can have access to the resources they need to elevate their performance and grow their businesses.

Stay Congruent, Stay the Course

It would be ingenuous to imply that it’s been smooth sailing all the time. Acquiring financial advisor teams isn’t like acquiring real estate; you’re dealing with people. We’ve had advisor teams that didn’t work out, or that we had to let go. The question that we ask ourselves in those difficult moments is always, “How can we be more aligned with our passion as people, as a company?” or “How can we be more congruent than we ever have been before?”

To sum it up, I’d say that embracing your passion leads to congruence. By expanding this alignment into your messaging and brand you can resonate with the people who want to reach and the results will surprise you.

If anyone has questions about how to implement a congruent brand effectively at your company, please reach out and I’d be happy to offer you my advice.

Bio: Stephen Distante is CEO of Vanderbilt Financial Group, the Sustainable Broker-Dealer & RIA firm, and President of EO New York.

As an organization that strives to act for the good of society, we are a resource for any advisor who is interested in doing good with their business. If you’d like to join us in making a difference, please contact Vanderbilt Financial Group, the industry’s only sustainable broker dealer, by emailing info@joinvanderbilt.com.

Stephen Distante is CEO of Vanderbilt Financial Group, the Sustainable Broker-Dealer & RIA, and President of EO New York.

This information is not intended to be a solicitation to offer for sale any securities products The information contained in this blog site is for general guidance on matters of interest only.

Vanderbilt Financial Group is the marketing name for Vanderbilt Securities, LLC and its affiliates.

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a dynamic global network of more than 8,700 business owners in 35 countries. Founded in 1987 by a group of young entrepreneurs, the year 2012 marks EO’s 25th anniversary. With its transformative experiences and unparalleled peer netwo...

We are a global business network of 9,500+ business owners in 131 chapters and 40 countries. Founded in 1987 by a group of young entrepreneurs, EO enables small and large business owners to learn from each other, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal ...